Agriculture

Two marine freight companies have lost a fight with a local council which refused to allow it to unload 3,000 head of cattle at Apollo Bay in Victoria, with a judge finding they were “the architects of their own misfortune” for striking a deal with a beef company before securing permission to berth at the port. 

A shareholder class action against livestock exporter Wellard over a profit downgrade following its $300 million initial public offering in 2015 has settled for $23 million. 

The Minister for Agriculture has rejected an offer to settle a nine-year-old class action over the government’s 2011 ban on the live export of cattle for $510 million plus up to $390 million in legal costs and interest. 

The federal government has hit back at a class action over an outbreak of white spot disease in South-East Queensland that decimated the commercial prawn industry, pointing the finger at several importers and saying farmers failed to mitigate their own losses.

Glencore-owned Viterra must pay indemnity costs to four Joe White employees it dragged into a 10-year feud with Cargill over the $420 million sale of the Joe White business, after a judge found its claims against them were “hopeless from the outset”.

The applicant in a nine-year-old class action over the government’s 2011 live exports ban has urged the Commonwealth to pay up to $900 million to settle the case, after earlier settlement efforts flopped.

Glencore-owned Viterra has failed in its bid for High Court leave to challenge a ruling in a 10-year battle with Cargill over the 2013 sale of malt producer Joe White, leaving the grain producer to fork over damages of almost $300 million.

A judge has balked at the court being asked to examine the internal workings of the Indonesian government in the nine-year old live exports ban class action, flagging a possible Full Court hearing of the matter before damages are finalised.

The High Court has granted special leave to farmers in a class action against Advanta Seeds over allegedly contaminated product to challenge a court’s finding that a disclaimer nullified the company’s duty to protect growers against economic loss.

Agricultural giant Graincorp has hit back at a class action filed by rural Victorians who allege that a loud and foul-smelling oilseed factory run by the “high-handed” company has reduced the value of their homes and affected their health.